1950: At the age of 6, migrates with family to United
States. Comes to
Cleveland, where he grows up on the near West Side, in an apartment on
W. 41st
and Lorain Avenue. Joe's father, Istvan Eszterhas, begins writing what
would
become 30 historical novels written in Hungarian about the Hungarian
émigré
community living in the Buckeye neighborhood.

1962: Graduates from Cathedral Latin High School (now
closed), located at
2056 East 107th Street.

1966: Graduates from Ohio University, where he was the
editor of the campus
daily, The Post. During last year of school, he wins the $1,000
first prize
in a Hearst national contest for college journalists.

1966-1967: Works as reporter at the Dayton Journal
Herald.

1967-1971: Hired at The Plain Dealer as a general
assignment reporter.
Eszterhas' stay is a stormy one. In 1967, he wins the Associated
Press award for
coverage of a bridge disaster that took place in West Virginia. The
following year, Eszterhas is sued for invasion of privacy by a West
Virginia woman whose husband died
in the accident. The U.S. Supreme Court rules that
Eszterhas' story contains "knowing and reckless falsehoods" and awards
the
woman $60,000 in damages.

In 1969, marries fellow newsroom reporter Gerri Javor.

In 1970, Eszterhas receives the Associated Press award for an interview
with a Clevelander who served as a U.S. Army photographer in Vietnam.

In 1971, the paper fires Eszterhas after he publishes a story in
another
publication criticizing the paper's management, calling his article "an
outright attack
upon the Plain Dealer, its management and its policies."

1971: Relocates to the West Coast to take a job at
Rolling Stone magazine,
where he works for 5 years as a political writer.

1974: Nominated for a National Book Award for the novel
Charlie Simpson's
Apocalypse.

1978: After hooking up with noted Hollywood director Norman
Jewison,
Eszterhas' script is turned into a film -- F.I.S.T.,
starring Sylvester
Stallone. During production, Eszterhas condemns the treatment of the
script
in the film -- an act that would occur often in his career.

1983: Pens the blockbuster hit, Flashdance, one in a
string of high-profile
productions that include Jagged Edge (1985) and Betrayed
(1988), which stars
another ex-Clevelander, Debra Winger.

1992: Sets a Hollywood record and establishes reputation as
"Hollywood's
highest paid screenwriter," after he sells script for the
sex-thriller Basic
Instinct for $3 million. During production of the film, gay and
lesbian groups
protest its depiction of a lesbian as the psycho killer.
Eszterhas walks out of production and demands that changes be made in
response, changes that would lessen the violence in the film. After
director
Paul Verhoeven rejects any changes, Eszterhas returns to the
fold. Despite the protests -- and pans from most
critics --Basic Instinct is a hit, grossing $323 million.

1993: During production of the Eszterhas-penned script
Sliver, the film's
producer, Bill McDonald, leaves wife Naomi Baka for actress Sharon
Stone.
Naomi Baka, originally of Mansfield, Ohio, then moves in with Joe and
Gerri
Eszterhas. Later that year, Eszterhas declares his love for
Baka,
leaving his wife of 24 years. The Eszterhases divorce. Afterwards, a
lawsuit
by Gerri Eszterhas -- in which she claims rights to two Eszterhas
scripts written during their marriage but not yet in production -- is
rejected.

In a business breakthrough, Eszterhas signs a profit-sharing agreement
with Savoy Pictures for a new script, Foreplay, about a serial
killer in
Florida. The deal gives Eszterhas $1 million up front, $3-4 million
during
production, and a cut of the gross -- an unprecedented deal for
Hollywood.

Meanwhile, the sex-thriller Sliver fares poorly at the box
office, as
well as with critics.

1994-1995: Two more Eszterhas sex-thrillers, Jade and
Showgirls, are
released, again to a poor box-office take and reviews. New York
Times reviewer Janet Maslin
called the films "familiar show-biz and suspense plots, with
prostitutes as stock figures in flashy clothing." The Times
film critic
also pointed the finger at Eszterhas for his depiction of women:

"Only a man -- a man named Eszterhas -- could cook up a gaudy tramp
thrilled by visions of
Vegas celebrity (Showgirls) or a psychologist moonlighting as a
glamorous
whore (Jade). "

Such a response -- and an NC-17 (no one under 17 admitted) rating --
didn't prevent
Eszterhas from urging teenagers to see Showgirls. In an
interview with the
Los Angeles Daily News, he urged teens to "do whatever you've
got to do to see
it. Use your fake IDs." While Eszterhas' call was couched as a
free speech
issue, Motion Picture Association President Jack Valenti found such talk
abhorrent, stating in a published report: "If Mr. Eszterhas actually
made
those remarks, he is desperately ill and needs medical attention."

But, Eszterhas is well enough to sign another big money deal -- this
time a
$4 million contract to deliver Reliable Sources a story about a
reporter,
based on Eszterhas' own experience at The Plain Dealer.

1996: After racking up a number of million-dollar deals,
Eszterhas takes on a
wholly different project. This time, the writer delivers a script
about his
life -- growing up in Cleveland. The script, written years ago, is
dusted off
and put into production. And the cost of production for the entire film
-- $3
million -- is less than his last script deal.

After Eszterhas announces in March that Telling Lies in
America will be
shot in town, film production starts in August. Set in Cleveland in
1961,
Telling Lies tells the story of a Hungarian immigrant, Karchy
Jonas, who
befriends a WHK disc jockey named Billy Magic and ends up getting nailed
in a
payola scandal. Sound familiar? Eszterhas supposedly modeled the
deejay after Cleveland rock'n'roll legend Alan Freed.

In addition to familiar spots like the Buckeye neighborhood,
West Side Market and the Cuyahoga County Courthouse, Telling Lies in
America also takes in
shots of Tower City, St. Theodosius Russian Orthodox
Church, Gray Armory and Ruthie and Moe's diner, the
latter of which provide a number of indoor scenes.

But the film crew is confronted by one problem: How
to make Cleveland
look like it did in 1961?

For furniture and clothing they hit up two vintage
shops on the near West Side, Modern House and Suite
Lorain. For one scene,
the crew has to remove all traces of today, including parking and
flashing
crosswalk signs. At the Cuyahoga County Courthouse, they take
out the chairs; to recreate the Cleveland Press, they redo a
makeshift building to look like the now-defunct newspaper. The
Landmark Office Tower on Prospect Avenue is used for WHK,
while St. Stephen Roman Catholic Church on W. 54 depicts
Cathedral Latin High School. And Jim's Steakhouse serves
as a Holiday Inn interior.

Aside from the 300 or so extras who appear in the film, Telling Lies
in
America boasts two bigger cameos: Eszterhas' father, Istvan, and
his wife
Naomi's father, Bernard Baka, who appear sitting next to one another
during
naturalization proceedings in the Cuyahoga County Courthouse.

March 13, 1997: Telling Lies in America premieres at
the 21st Annual
Cleveland International Film Festival, with Eszterhas in
attendance.